How to Attract the Best Applicants To Your Business

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No business is guaranteed to be successful. Even the best ideas fall flat — and that’s because it’s not ideas that drive a company forward; it’s the people who are at the steering wheel that do that. If you have a subpar team of employees, then you’ll find it difficult to reach your full potential as an organization. But this, at least, is something that’s within your control. If you’re attracting the best applicants to your business, then you’ll end up with the best employees. If you’re attracting the bottom of the barrel applicants, then your competitors will have a competitive edge. It’s as simple as that.

 

So what can you do to ensure that the best of the best are hitting the apply button when you post a job? We take a look at some tried and tested methods below.

 

Nail the Advert

 

One simple mistake that companies make is with their job advertisement. There are two tones you can take: positive and negative. Often, companies, trying to ensure they don’t get time wasters, take an overly negative tone. They’re full of requirements and expectations, and truthfully, it would put someone who doesn’t know a thing about the business off. While they’re trying to avoid whimsical applications, what happens is all the best applicants hit the ‘X’ button, and never apply. With your advert, it’s about telling the applicant what you can do for them, as much as what they can do for you.

 

On Your Website

 

For the most part, applicants will only know the public face of the company. They don’t know what it’s actually like to work there, what it’s like behind the scenes. But they will try to find out. There’s a reason why sites like Glassdoor have become so popular — it’s because people don’t want to commit to working forty hours a week if the company is going to suck. As such, make sure you’re showcasing the working culture of your business. If you need some inspiration, take a look at some of the best career pages. These sites showcase their employees, the perks, the office, and more. It’s a way of selling a potential applicant on your broader company culture, not just the specific role that they’re applying for.

 

At Campus

 

The best applicants don’t just appear out of thin air. They’re created in schools and colleges across the country. If you’re based next to an esteemed institution, then why not look at recruiting the next generation of talent directly? All campuses have employment showcase days. Go down there, and get a head start on the best employees of the future. As well as work days, you can look at offering internships and college credit to students. You might just find a diamond in the rough — if you do, make sure you’re offering them a path into the working world via your business.

 

Give to Get

 

Money isn’t the only thing that people look for in an employer, but let’s face it, it is a pretty big factor. If you’re only offering peanuts, then you’ll only get monkeys, is what they say. To get the best employees, make sure you’re putting together an attractive compensation package. A healthy salary should be the starting point — from there, you’ll want to add things like generous vacation time, perks, flexible working hours, and so on. These are what the best companies to work for offer their staff.

 

Go Hunting

 

Who says you have to wait for a talented worker to come to you, though? In the digital age, it’s more than possible to go hunting for staff yourself. If you think you have an excellent offer to make someone, it’s possible that you can lure them away from their current job. LinkedIn is a particularly good website to look for potential employees. It’s as simple as conducting a search, taking a look at people’s profiles, and then contacting anyone who you think might be a good fit for your business.

 

Friends of the Business

 

Even if you nail the job description and hold interviews and so on, there’s still a chance that you’ll end up with a subpar employee. That’s because you only know them a little bit — they might be underwhelming when they finally start work. As such, it’s a good idea to have an employee referral program at your business. Your staff might just have friends and acquaintances who would be perfect for the advertised job, and they’ll also be able to vouch for their character.